Little Angels
by myriassterre
Summary: Set post "Not Fade Away," Buffy wakes up and Angel isn't there...again. BA. COMPLETE.


Little Angels

By Maddy

**Summary:** Buffy woke up and Angel wasn't there...again.

**Rating: **PG

**Spoilers:** None really, this is a few years into the future. If you know what Shanshu is then that's about it.

**Timeline:** Three years after "Not Fade Away."

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. Never have, never will.

**Feedback:** Please, I love it.

**Author's Notes:** Short and sweet.

"Angel, come to bed." I looked at the radio clock on the bedside table. "It's a quarter to 3 in the morning." There was no answer, no sound of movement and I knew Angel hadn't left his post, as I have come to call it.

Ever since the twins were born, Angel would stay up for hours watching over them. At the hospital he would sit by my bed, and the two cribs would be right next to him so he could be there if they needed someone or if someone tried to hurt them, i.e. demons.

I fully blame Xander for putting the idea in his head. 'Just wait until the demon population finds out that a slayer and ex-vampire are gonna have offspring.' Xander said that when we told the Gang I was pregnant, for the next 6 months Angel was so overly over-protective. It's a good thing I love him so much, 'cause damn he was annoying.

And now that the twins are one moth old, he still hasn't stopped being overly over-protective, but now it's just Liam and Katherine he's being protective of. He lets the Gang hold them and stuff like that, but they cannot leave the house without him being there. It's a very good thing that Angel kept his vamp strength after he Shanshued.

I get out of bed and grab my dressing gown, slipped it on and pulled tight the rope around my waist. I walked quietly from our room, into the hallway and down to the door of the twin's room. I poked my head around the doorframe.

Angel was sitting in the rocking chair facing in the direction of the two cribs, he couldn't see me as the chair faces away from the door. I watched him for about a minute before Kat stirred in her bed. Angel seemed to come alive, he took a fleeting look around the room, he still couldn't see me, but sensing me was a different matter.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Shouldn't _you_?" I counter, stepping into the room.

"I'm fine."

"Angel, are you going to do this forever?"

"No."

"Then when are you going to stop?"

He didn't answer. Sighing, I walked around to the other side so that I was standing in front of my husband. He was dressed in boxer shorts, no shirt, but he did have on that wonderful silk dressing gown. 3 years as a human has given him a tan and a couple of freckles. His hair still dark, his eyes still held years of untold pain and guilt. But if you look hard enough, there is happiness there too.

I kneeled in front of Angel. He looked away, I felt the urge to hit him, instead I reached up and turned his handsome face to look at me. I starred in his eyes. I could feel myself begin to drown in them. "I love you."

"I love you."

I smiled, "then come back to bed."

"But what if-"

"Angel. You have to stop doing this."

"No."

"You don't need to watch over them all the time."

Again, he didn't say anything. Sometimes his stubbornness is courageous and sexy, but right now, my love for him is all that's keeping me from shaking some sense into him.

"I can't lose them." He said suddenly. "I lost Connor, Buffy."

"I know." I could feel his heart breaking. "But he knows who you are, he knows you love him. You gave him a better life, one he deserves-"

"I lost him before that." He stood up. I had to quickly hop out of the way. Angel walked over to the large window and looked out onto the street. I got to my feet and made my way over to him, slid my arms around his waist and rested my head on his back. "When Wesley took him, that's when I lost my son." He held my hands in his. "And then when I gave him up, I knew it would be forever and that no one would remember him. Just another thing that only I would remember-"

"Angel..."

"I can't lose the twins. I need them to be here, with us, and to be okay."

"They won't always be okay." I tried to explain. "When Liam gets cut from the soccer team-"

"No kid of mine is getting cut from a soccer team." He interrupted.

"Or when Kat's heart gets broken by some guy." I continued. "They won't be okay. But what they need is for us to be their parents. And we love them, they'll never be alone, but they won't always be okay. You of all people know that."

"I'm just scared."

"I know, I am too. But we just have to be there for them."

"But what if we can't be there? What if they need us to save them, and we can't? what do we do then?"

"Our best." I answered. "Even though it might not always be enough."

"I love you, so much."

"I love you, more."

He chuckled deep in his throat, I could feel the vibrations coming through his back. I held him tighter. He brought up one of my hands to his mouth and kissed it, I grinned at the gesture. What did I ever do to deserve him?

"Can we go to bed now?"

"Sure."

I pull my arms back and step away, Angel turns and kisses me full on the mouth. I was a bit startled, but quickly respond. "Mmm..." I say as he pulls away.

"Come on, let's go to sleep."

"You promise to stop watching over them all the time?"

"I promise."

"You swear?"

"Buffy..."

"Okay, okay." I smiled up at him, and got one in return. But it's times like this that you don't have to look so hard to see the happiness in his eyes. He took my hand in his and we walked out of the room.

"Goodnight, my little angels." I whisper as I close the door just a bit. "Have sweet dreams."


End file.
